Chevrolet Corair Monza
The American car industry was intrigued when Chevrolet presented the Corvair in 1959. It was a compact car in a time when compact cars were rare on US soil and produced mainly by foreign brands. Then, it had the engine in the back rather than in the front as all other domestic vehicles had. Third, it was a six-cylinder boxer, not a straight six or V8 as everybody expected. All in all, it was a bold and unusual move by the usually conservative Chevrolet.
However, the most exciting model was the Corvair Monza, a two-door coupe or convertible. It was a performance car in the Corvair lineup and featured one of most unusual power plants Detroit has ever produced – a turbocharged boxer engine. Think of it as Chevrolet’s four-seat Porsche 911 Turbo some 15 years before Porsche even thought of the idea. It wasn’t overly successful, but today, it got the recognition it deserves (via Supercars).